The Man Behind the Curtain
by Oxnate
Summary: Giles was a many faceted character. Time and again he showed that the image he projected to the world at large was not his true face.


The Man Behind the Curtain

by Oxnate

Disclaimer: Do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My title is a reference to the Wizard of Oz but is not a crossover.

Summary – Giles was a many faceted character. Time and again he showed that the image he projected to the world at large was not his true face.

A/N: Buffy died. Xander said it. Buffy admitted it. Giles acknowledged it. I find it hard to believe that an organization like the watchers council could be so incompetent as to not tell two Slayers about each other by accident. This is the story of what happened behind the curtains.

* * *

Chapter 1.

"Quentin Travers, please." Giles said into the phone.

After a short pause, the other line was picked up. "Travers."

"Quentin, Rupert here." Giles said.

"Ah yes, sorry to hear about your Slayer. Good to hear she stopped that apocalypse. You should be proud. A travel voucher will be arriving for you by post shortly. It's good anytime so if you wish to finish out the schoo-"

"Buffy isn't dead." Giles cut him off.

"Excuse me?" Travers said. "The codex-?"

"The codex prophesied that she would die. Fortunately, it said nothing about her _staying_ dead. A little CPR from one of her friends and she's as good as new."

"Impossible." Travers breathed.

"I take it another Slayer was called?" Giles guessed.

"Jamaica." Travers nodded even though he was on the phone.

"Hmm. Sam Zabuto was posted there, was he not?" Giles recalled. "Was it his charge?"

"Indeed. Kendra is her name. She looks very promising."

"More promising than my own Slayer, I assume." Giles gave a wry smile. The council's opinion of his Slayer was only a tad lower than their opinion of himself. The reason he'd been given this posting in the first place.

"No doubt. But then your Buffy has surprised us time and again now." Travers chuckled.

"I'm guessing there will be some sort of competition between the girls?" Giles asked.

"Of course. Though don't tell them. We'll keep you appraised of Kendra's situation. Just-"

"Don't tell Buffy." Giles spoke over his boss. "Yes, yes. I know."

"Good man. We'll be in touch.

* * *

Giles rang the council in England. He liked to do it during first period. Partly because it interrupted tea time back home and Giles enjoyed that sort of practical joke. Also because first period was the one period that Buffy consistently attended. She might skip out later to talk to him or train, but she liked being counted as present at that first period so it was unlikely that she would walk in on anything she wasn't supposed to hear.

"Travers." came the answer. His calls were now automatically routed to the boss.

"Mr. Travers. Yes. Just, uh, checking in." Giles was a bit more nervous than normal. His own wild past having bit him in the arse just a few days ago. He was waiting for the proverbial hammer.

"Wonderful to hear from you, Rupert. I have some news for you. Our seers have noticed something of a dark portent in Sunnydale." Travers reported.

"Oh dear." Giles said.

"No, no. It's nothing too serious. The problem is that it involves your Slayer's, eh-" Travers searched for the right word. "The vampire."

"Ah."

"We're sending Kendra to Sunnydale to deal with it." Travers said. "If the vampire dies then the ritual will be averted. The Catholic Diocese would like to get their hands on the other two troublesome vampires you have, but they aren't willing to send a team into the Hellmouth to get them. So if you can drive them off, that will be enough."

"I shall inform Buffy." Giles said.

"You'll do no such thing." Travers ordered. "This is the first time ever that two Slayers have ever met in person. It is fortuitous that one is council raised and one is... _not_. This is the best chance we will have to test whether the council's training methods are truly effective or not. Neither Slayer will be told about the other and you will arrange for them to meet on the field of battle."

Giles thought quietly for a minute. "Very well. I think it can be accomplished. Please make sure she is read up on Angelus before she arrives. I'll ring back with a time and location where Buffy and Angel can be found. If she kills Angel, then Buffy will certainly fight her hardest."

"Good. We'll await your call. And don't worry, Rupert, if this Buffy is everything you say she is, then you have nothing to fear."

* * *

"Good evening, Rupert. Anything to report?" Travers asked the next time he called.

"Buffy and Angel had their _date_ at the skating rink just as I told you." Rupert spat the word 'date' rather distastefully. "They weren't interrupted by another Slayer however. I'm not sure if she was even there. Instead they were interrupted by an assassin from the Order of Taraka."

"Taraka!? Are you sure?" Travers sat up rigidly.

"I'm holding the man's ring in my hand." Giles confirmed. "There will be more, we both know. We should call off this test."

"No, no. The council will ensure that no further assassins are sent. You and your Slayer will only have to deal with the first two or three they'll send as the first wave. Then I'll call Sam and see if he's heard from Kendra and whether he's heard from her or not. At a guess, she saw the battle and decided not to attack while outnumbered. It's likely she's tracking the vampire at this very moment."

"Lets hope she can finally put a stop to that damned, dirty mick." Giles said.

"He's Irish?"

"I've been doing a great deal of research on the... man." Giles explained.

"He's an Irish vampire. Keeps getting better and better." Travers complained.

"It could be worse. He could be French." Giles pointed out.

"Point. Well, carry on. I'll have someone call you if there's any news on our end." Travers said before he hung up.

* * *

"Well, they fought each other." Giles said as Travers answered.

"And?" Travers asked. He hadn't heard about a new Slayer being called yet but he didn't want to assume.

"And Buffy surprised us yet again. She got Kendra to talk. I had to pretend that I had no idea that such a thing was even possible. I'm surprised anyone believed that. I think there may be a spell on the town to make everyone as gullible as possible." Giles said.

"And Kendra? Did she believe?" Travers asked.

"She looked down her nose at us very well. I'm sure she thought that the council no longer bothered to keep track of us or inform us of anything." Giles answered.

"Yes, as if we could just afford to let the Slayer go off willy-nilly." Travers shook his head at such thoughts. "Too bad about the test. Did they say anything about how the fight was going before it was broken up?"

"Not much. Kendra found Buffy asleep." Giles sighed before adding the embarrassing news, "In Angel's bed, no less. But without Angel, thank goodness. But despite Kendra having the element of surprise, Buffy was able to fight her to a standstill. When they both paused for breath, Buffy asked her who she was."

"And now?"

"Kendra is asleep at my flat. Buffy is in class." Giles said.

Travers chuckled. "A Slayer and a student. Always impresses me, I have to tell you, that she can keep up a decent Slaying schedule and still pull out passing grades. Do pass on my compliments to her. Your Slayer truly is impressive."

"Yes, she is." Giles agreed. "Now about this ritual."

"Delay as much as possible without making your Slayer suspicious. If the ritual is successful, Angelus will be gone and a Catholic team will be ready to intercept Spike and Drusilla as they leave town as they are expected to if they succeed."

"And without endangering the Slayers." Giles added.

"Goes without saying." Travers said. "The test failed so you are now responsible for both of their safeties until Kendra returns to Jamaica. Good luck and keep me updated."


End file.
